Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqRvAe4XBC
Perfection.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBdXoPDmwD
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrsBLqxtiT
She looked like a tragically defeated princess draped in velvet and silk and cut open with a shiny silver dagger glistening with a red, perfectly red and perfectly shaped little drop of blood.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgL7YC9pc20
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cnAPAGXQW
She was so nice. So good. So polite. So...I don't know...perfect?
It was totally like how the bots commented on every channel,165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY2b5JT1VH
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHhu4EdxIj
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmh73SMr0Th
You know why?165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88kl11upUC
It was because she was always..always right.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YJ2PyiUxA
And there was only one ambition in my whole stinking life: To prove her wrong.
The moment I thought of pressing the publish button, I knew the outcome the way I knew the back of my hand.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7bh4EtGgN
It was that obvious.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRNJGWpV5u
I texted my mother the next second:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIosRUztsx
Spare key under mat.
Maybe she would notice, right after she had cleaned the entire house for 6 times and dusted the shelves like my father's perfect wife.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKg7kNe4Au
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXr1IMw7FoF
"What's up?"165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0P7FhIBTp
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwtes9yNP7
Jake even insisted on taking me to the bar. And at last, I finally agreed. He drove me to the nearest one. It had a lively atmosphere. People here were damn serious about drinking, I must say. So many people. So many dim colored shirt. Such randomly mixed scents lingering in the air.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fNCtrpa8B
The bar was buzzing with lights.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZVv5TQ7PA
Red.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZefv2r5vGU
Blue165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0STyhTbbQw
Red165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pVsSdO04J
Blue165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4TcTPJ6AP
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Aw7yNELAY
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC680JOlNgE
He protested.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQx7CZNmsUm
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vh1wwcTrM
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiTlzW9vZH
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrK7qc8As5o
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8nwEIgLts
"Goodnight, Jake."
********165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp64BUljUoV
I looked at my doorstep. He was not home. Thank God, he was not home. I finally took a deep breath, like a child famishing the absence of Their math teacher.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmCnrXzoCa
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIQvu2y8EQ
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsKyUTRkP1
I felt like that zebra.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEvRLYTSkL
I found myself face to face with my parents sitting in the living room.
"Why weren’t you picking up your phone, Hridhi?" asked my mother, her phone on the coffee table.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfIED1zgvv
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRijQuqGIKK
I was trembling without any reason because my mother had big eyes and stared at me as if she could see my tar black soul.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLzthgeHja
My father however, looked at his phone. Facebook still hadn’t been outdated in Bengal, I guess.
"Hridhi, I can bet that you were in the bar," said my mother. "Sit down. Sit beside me."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqnk4v85jK
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4gOEcgZMH
She glared at my father before she continued,165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEs1Fb2Yug
"Will you explain what just happened?"165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnOZh9yBjR
I explained. From his hands on her waist and him fucking her at hotels. I had proof. I said I had his transaction receipts amd everything. Journalists had access to things like that. CCTV footages are our left hand and fishing out answers from stubborn people was our right.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxqXfgZNT3
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpChoamOq9u
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Xy2k1GIPT
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJ4tldhElb
"No," interrupted my mother.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jX53dKn2h
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwMcNmPjkt
I followed her to my room. I knew why. She wouldn’t be able to keep her cool with my father's constant questions that I stored inside my stomach.
"Ma, I have one and only thing to say. I am leaving him." I said. "Look, all the powerful women out there divorce their cheat of a husband and lives happily ever after."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHVpP04WnW
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvsEvQKJV8
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxurKoFgRaW
My mother smiled.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVt8NkKg05
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwOnXZ1RjL
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcp8tT2RtD
"Hridhi, I have seen the world for a longer time. You came from ME. I know that you are obsessed with him. Don't lie."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBs0xEO8Vf
Her words struck me like lightning in the sky. Fire burnt through my blood vessels. I wanted to lash at her. Burn her. Throw spit at her and tell her it was NOT TRUE.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rsaxuBcfN
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkp7se4mpm
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAif6D7q4zZ
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbVLbV75RC
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvx7Oqtw5j
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn7p2Wn4rJ
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and then Add to home screen.